Despite Assange claims, U.S. has no current case against him

[AntiFascist]

24. A couple of Australian blog/journalism sites discuss this...

but the end result seems to be to build a case against Assange anyway, and the emails may have been genuine:

http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/03/08/federal-bureau-of-facilitation-what-was-the-fbi-doing-with-stratfor-and-wikileaks/

And then there’s the Stratfor crack late in 2011, which is where it gets interesting. The FBI was not only aware of the crack of the posturing private intelligence firm’s internal system — indeed, may have been aware of it before it happened — but provided server space to store the cracked Stratfor material before it was released. To use an analog comparison, the FBI was happy to provide storage space for stolen goods before they were distributed.

Given the sneering attitude towards official agencies of Stratfor executives revealed in their emails, the FBI might have been only too happy to see Strafor humiliated, but in doing so it actively facilitated the release of the material. That includes, by the way, the credit card details of every Stratfor subscriber, including Australian subscribers such as Malcolm Turnbull. The FBI could have prevented that breach of privacy, but chose not to.

Further, the Stratfor material eventually made its way to WikiLeaks and was released in late February. What part did the FBI play in brokering the handover between Anonymous and WikiLeaks?

The Guardian, whose senior journalists have pursued a smear campaign against WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, quickly seized on the link. “If through Sabu or information he had gleaned from other Anons the US could glean any evidence to tie Julian Assange to hacking attacks on US soil, such as Stratfor, the case for extradition would be substantially strengthened,” former WikiLeaks member-turned-critic James Ball wrote.